• Introducing Bing Ads Part 1

Getting Started With Bing Ads

So now you know precisely what Bing Ads is, why it matters and how it works. You also know how to create a PPC campaign generally, and you know how to select the right keywords, etc.

What’s left?

Oh yes, actually getting started and creating some profitable ad campaigns!
And with that in mind, let’s launch straight into setting up some campaigns and doing a tour around Bing’s options and tools…
Before we get started, I am going to assume that you a) have set up a Bing Ads account by going here(you can use your existing Microsoft account) and b) you have chosen your keywords using the advice in the previous chapter.

Importing Google AdWords Campaigns

Here’s the good news – if you already have a Google AdWords campaign set up, then getting that campaign to work on Bing is as simple as importing it from there to your site. Doing this is easy. First, head over to the link on the far right that reads ‘Import Campaigns’ on your Google Dashboard.
Now click ‘Sign into Google’ and then enter your name and password. On the next page, you will be asked to select the AdWords campaigns that you want to import. Choose them and then click ‘Continue.’ Now, under Bing Ads Account & Import Options, you’ll just need to add a few more settings that are unique to Bing.

What to Do In Bing

• Choose the Bing Ads account you want to import to
• Select the right time zone (remember that Bing allows more flexibility in this department)
• Find the button under options ‘What to Import.’
• What are your bids and budget?
• Now just click import, and the process is complete

Remember we said earlier that the best way to handle Bing Ads was to use them on top of a Google AdWords campaign. This is why it makes a lot of sense to import an existing AdWords campaign into your Bing account simply. It couldn’t be simpler!

Setting Up a New Campaign

But if you don’t have a Google AdWords campaign or you want to try something different on Bing (this is a good place to experiment with different strategies!), then you’ll want to click ‘Campaigns’ and then ‘Create a Campaign’.

Now you can choose between ‘Search & Content Campaigns’ which will display regular search ads, or ‘Product Ad Campaigns’ which will show products with images in your search ads.

You’ll be asked to

• Give your campaign a name
• Select your time zone,
• to set your budget (which can be daily, weekly, monthly etc.),
• Set a language.
• Chosse a location

You can also choose whether you want to show your ads in all locations, or whether you want to show your ads only in specific locations. You can also target people searching for information about your location from elsewhere – for instance, that might be someone looking up hotels or amenities in an area they intend to visit!

Crafting your Bing Ads

Now you’ll have to write your ads. To do this, you choose your type of ad and then give it a headline. Remember what we discussed earlier – this headline is not designed to get the maximum number of clicks but rather to get the right kind of clicks. You’ll then want to write your ad text, which will let you use a little more detail. Underneath this will be your display URL and destination URL. You might choose a root domain for your display URL if your destination URL uses a long permalink.

Specifics

• Headlines are 25 characters
• Ad text is 71 characters

On the next page is where you’ll be given the option to choose your keywords, set keyword bids and then verify ‘activation’ (meaning you set the method of payment and also click that you want the ads to go live). Refer to the last chapter for more on selecting the right keywords.

On the next page, you’ll be able to choose your bid for each keyword. So you might decide that some keywords are worth more to you than others. This is very good news because it means you can pay very little for those more obscure keywords that would only get you a few clicks but that likely wouldn’t be very expensive due to a lack of competition.

Managing and Tracking Campaigns

The good news is that you can tweak and manage your campaign subsequently after it has gone live as you would expect. This means that you can see how it is performing and then see how they are working for you. You’ll be able to find some more advanced settings here too, such as negative keywords and dynamic keywords. We’ll look at these options in more detail in the coming days.

For now, though, we want to focus on the other most important aspect of running your Bing Ads campaigns.Which is tracking the success of your adverts?

Starting Small

It is important to realize that not every ad will be successful. however, by starting on a small budget you can find out everything you need to know. I personally never start at more than $15 a day. This tells me everything I need to know.

Once a campaign has been tweaked to be successful, then is the time to ramp up the campaign. Never rm,ap it up to more than you can afford, because circumstances can change quickly.

In this case, that is going to mean looking at how your ads are performing for you. And there are some really great advanced features here that actually go a bit and above what you would have access to with AdWords.

We’ll delve into these in more detail in the next chapter. But for now, make sure you are watching your basic metrics like a hawk. Just click ‘Standard Reports’ and then select any one of the 18 different performance reports to get your statistics. You’ll be able to see things like your average CPC (cost per click), CPM (cost per impression), CTR (click through rate) and more!